[0:00] We can resume our public worship of God by singing to his place from Psalm 18. Psalm 18, and we're singing from the beginning, down to verse 7.
[0:17] Six stanzas from the beginning. The evil I love, O Lord, my strength, my fortress is the Lord. My rock and he that does to me deliverance afford.
[0:32] My God, my strength, whom I will trust a buckler unto me. The horn of my salvation and my high tower is he. Upon the Lord, who worthy is of praises, will I cry.
[0:46] And then shall I preserved be, safe from mine enemy. Floods of old men affrighted. Death's pangs about me went.
[0:58] Hell sorrows me environed. Death's snares did me prevent. In my distress I called on God. Cry to my God to die.
[1:09] He from his temple heard my voice. To his ears came my cry. The earth has affrighted, then did shake. Trembling upon it ceased.
[1:21] The hell's foundations moved where? Because he was displeased. And so on. We'll sing these verses. Psalm 18, from the beginning to verse 7.
[1:34] The evil I love, O Lord, my strength, my fortress is the Lord. The evil I love, O Lord, my strength, my fortress is the Lord.
[1:58] My rock and he adapt to me, delivereth a heart.
[2:14] My God, my strength, whom I will trust.
[2:24] A partner unto me. The heart of my salvation and my high terracy.
[2:47] Upon the Lord who worthy is of praises will I cry.
[3:06] And then shall I preserve thee, safe from mine enemy.
[3:22] Flood's fecRayanaver. Flood's off of her men are frightened me.
[3:33] Deus tinder the wenn. Deus tinder the wenn. Deus tinder the feel.
[3:43] Deus tinder low. Death snare should me prevent.
[3:59] In my distress I call on God. Cry to my God, could I?
[4:17] He from His temple heard my voice. To His ears came my cry.
[4:34] There thus a frighted man did shake.
[4:45] Trembling upon His feet. The hell's foundation's bedware.
[5:03] Because He was just pleased. Let us join together in prayer.
[5:16] Let us pray. O Lord, O God, we give thanks for Your Word around which we are met. And under the light of which we gather, we give thanks that the entrance of Your Word brings light.
[5:39] And that it is that light that we desire to be disseminated amongst us. That it would scatter the darkness.
[5:50] And that it would be the means by which our relationship with Yourself, O God, would be encouraged.
[6:02] And we pray for all who are present here in this place of worship. That You would bless them according to the needs that they have. Be they ever so great.
[6:14] Be they ever so great. And be they ever so small. Do not allow us to trivialise our needs and make them out to be less than they are.
[6:27] Or to think of the greatest need that we have simply belonging to the realms of time and sense.
[6:39] Because You remind us of the fact that we are possessive of never-dying souls. We are marked out as Your creatures, sparing Your image in our first parents.
[6:56] And as a result of how we were created in Your image, that accountability to God as spiritual beings remains the same.
[7:11] Though we have departed from our created condition, we acknowledge that You require of us much because of what we are.
[7:25] We inhabit a planet that is occupied by many creatures that are beautiful to behold. We admire them in the capacity that they have to live in this world and to operate within the sphere of their own existence.
[7:49] We are with great capacity to endure and survive and to do great things that we would not credit them for.
[8:02] And yet they are but creatures devoid of spiritual value other than that they remind us of the fact that there is a creator God.
[8:16] There are those who have sought to overturn the place that You have given to the created order.
[8:30] You gave a preeminence to man. You gave a preeminence to man. And You gave him not just preeminence but oversight of that creation.
[8:42] And we acknowledge that the communion over the creatures was part of this instruction that You gave to Him as to how to live before God and to honour that God who gave life in the first instance.
[9:00] But man in his foolishness has usurped that order and continues to do so by laying claim to the sovereignty of the planet over against that preeminent creature that occupies it.
[9:20] We confess our sin in the way that we are responsible for spoiling the planet and for the many ways in which we fail to do what we ought.
[9:34] We will neglect, we will neglect, we will speak against us at the last day just as surely as all that is laid to our charge with regard to our carelessness and indifference with regard to the natural world.
[9:54] But we do have a more onerous weight placed upon us with regard to our spirituality.
[10:06] That we are not only to live before God and to honour our God with all our substance. But that it is an honest place that we would guide others to that same God and to speak often of that God to them if they are living in ignorance of that God.
[10:34] We pray Lord for your help as we would seek to testify to your, not just to your existence but to the grace that you have brought to bear upon the lives of your people.
[10:51] They are your people because of the saving grace of God. You have brought them out of darkness into the marvellous light of your own countenance.
[11:04] You have done so by means that no man could arrange. We bless you and thank you for the gospel that speaks to us of the power of God in salvation.
[11:23] Even as Jesus Christ is lifted up before us in the gospel. We give thanks for his humanity, for the incarnation that introduced it to us.
[11:36] For the way that he lived amongst fellows, many of whom were opposed to him, living in enmity because of his goodness and his justice and righteousness.
[11:50] And yet, although he was despised and rejected of men, yet he persevered in pursuit of the excellence that would assure salvation to sinners.
[12:03] We give thanks that he obeyed the law, that he elevated it so that it honours the God who gave it. But although he himself was not in any way guilty of breach of that law, yet he was penalised by the God of heaven whose law it was as if he was in breach of it.
[12:31] Because he bore the sins of many in his body to the tree. He was condemned as a sinner, as a lawbreaker.
[12:43] He was hung on a tree to witness to that fact. But we give thanks that just as the brazen serpent was lifted up in the wilderness to give salvation to the Israel of the Old Testament who were pierced by the poison of the serpent.
[13:05] That all who looked upon it would be saved. The poison of sin can look unto Jesus who was pierced in our place.
[13:19] Lord, help us to appreciate your goodness in providing such a saviour for us. Remember us tonight, each one according to need.
[13:32] Bless our homes, our families, bless young and old amongst us. May you be pleased to add to our number from amongst the families that are so prevalent in our midst and yet who are guilty of dereliction of duty with regard to the welfare of their own soul.
[13:51] We do not despise them because of that because this is what was true of so many of us. It does not excuse any one of us that that is what we were or how we were.
[14:06] But we do pray for those who are still going on in ignorance and who neglect their soul. Draw them into the body of the Kirk.
[14:19] That is Christ Jesus' body in the world. His church is his body. He is its head. And the glory of the head depends upon men and women experiencing salvation by his hand.
[14:37] May you glorify your name through bringing men and women young and old into the body of Christ. Here in this place.
[14:48] Remember the homes and the families around us. Remember those who do not darken the door of a church. Whose eyes are averted lest they see and are saved.
[15:02] Whose ears are closed and whose mouth is shut other than to pour disparagement on that which is truly of merit in the eyes of God.
[15:18] Remember all the villages around us. The island community to which we belong. Remember our nation and those who govern us.
[15:29] The various parliaments and the council we pray for. Remember all the nations of the earth. Each one with its own particular predicaments.
[15:40] We think of those who are recovering from Covid. And yet we see ample evidence that the recovery is a slow process.
[15:53] We think of the places in the world where other diseases are rampant. Where we see poverty and want displayed with horrific examples of the suffering that man and woman and young and old must endure.
[16:12] While we live in a world of plenty. And where there are so many who have much and more than they could ever use for themselves. And yet there are others lying in the gutter.
[16:26] Depending upon the crumbs that falls from the rich man's table. The world of plenty of people. This is the kind of enictus world that we live in. But it is under you just this pleasure and the day will come when it will all come to a head you have so promised.
[16:45] Do not allow us to despise the privileges that we enjoy. Lest we too suffer the same fate. So remember the war torn nations.
[16:58] Remember the places where there is persecution of the saints of God. Remember the places where the gospel is not allowed access.
[17:09] And where believers are few in number. May the power of the Holy Spirit work liberally in such places. May liberty be given to those who would testify to the grace of God in Christ Jesus.
[17:25] We pray for your own help here in this place that we too would speak much and speak often about our Lord and Saviour to whosoever would give ear to our testimony.
[17:42] Help us to bear witness to Christ in a day that needs much light. Because the darkness is so great.
[17:53] Watch over us a short time we are together. Bless to us your word as we sing it, as we read it and as we meditate upon it.
[18:04] Pardon sin in Jesus name. Amen. We are going to sing the 23rd Psalm.
[18:15] Psalm 23. We are going to sing the whole Psalm. Familiar words, but as we sing them, can we think of them.
[18:27] The Lord's my shepherd I'll not want. He makes me down to lie in pasture screen. He leadeth me the quiet waters by. My soul he doth restore again and me to walk doth make within the paths of righteousness even for his own name's sake.
[18:46] Yell why walk in death's dark veil. Yet will I fear none ill. For thou art with me. For thou art with me. And thy rod and staff me comfort still.
[18:57] My table thou hast furnished in presence of my foes. My head thou dost with oil anoint and my cup overflows. Goodness and mercy all my life shall surely follow me.
[19:12] And in God's house forevermore my dwelling place shall be. The 23rd Psalm to God's place. The Lord's my shepherd I'll not want.
[19:25] The Lord's my shepherd I'll not want.
[19:38] He makes me down to lie in pasture screen.
[19:52] He leadeth me. He leadeth me. The quiet walkers by.
[20:07] My soul he doth restore again.
[20:19] And me to walk doth make within the paths of righteousness even for his own name's sake.
[20:48] Yea, though I walk in death's dark veil.
[21:01] Yet will I fear none ill. For thou art with me.
[21:16] And I wrought. And stop me comfort still.
[21:31] My tip of life hast furnished in presence of my foes.
[21:52] My head thou dost with oil anoint.
[22:04] And my cup overflows. And my cup overflows. Goodness and mercy all my life shall surely fall.
[22:31] For me. And in God's eyes forevermore my dwelling place shall be.
[22:58] For me. For me. I'm going to read from the scriptures of the Old Testament and from the book of Deuteronomy. And chapter 32.
[23:09] And chapter 32. And chapter 32. We'll read from the beginning.
[23:20] These verses. In versehe Deuteronomy. Thank you. I will read from the beginning.
[23:33] My doctrine shall drop as the rain, my speech shall distill as the dew, as the small rain upon the tender herb, and as the showers upon the grass.
[23:47] Because I will publish the name of the Lord, ascribe ye greatness unto our God. He is the rock, his work is perfect.
[23:58] For all his ways are judgment, a God of truth and without iniquity, just and right as he. They have corrupted themselves, their spot is not the spot of his children, they are a perverse and crooked generation.
[24:19] Do ye thus require the Lord, O foolish people and unwise? Is not he thy father that hath bought thee?
[24:31] Hath he not made thee and established thee? Remember the days of old, consider the years of many generations. Ask thy father and he will show thee.
[24:44] Thy elders and they will tell thee. When the Most High divided to the nations their inheritance, when he separated the sons of Adam, he set the bounds of the people according to the number of the children of Israel.
[25:00] For the Lord's portion is his people. Jacob is the loft of his inheritance. He found him in a desert land and in the waste-towing wilderness.
[25:12] He led him about. He instructed him. He kept him as the apple of his eye. As an eagle stoodeth up her nest, fluttering over her young, spreadeth abroad her wings, taketh them, beareth them on her wings.
[25:33] So the Lord alone did lead him, and there was no strange God with him. He made him ride on the high places of the earth, that he might eat the increase of the fields.
[25:47] And he made him to suck honey out of the rock, and oil out of the flinty rock, butter of cain and milk of sheep, with fat lambs and rams of the breed of Basion, and goats with the fat of kidneys of wheat.
[26:04] And thou didst drink the pure blood of the grape. But Jeshua walked fat, and kicked. Thou art waxen fat, thou art grown thick, thou art covered with fatness.
[26:19] Then he forsook God which made him, and lightly esteemed the rock of his salvation. They provoked him to jealousy with strange gods.
[26:31] With abominations provoked they him to anger. They sacrificed unto devils, not to God. To gods whom they knew not.
[26:43] To new gods that came newly up, whom your fathers feared not. Of the rock that begat thee, thou art unmindful, and hast forgotten God that followed thee.
[26:57] And when the Lord saw it, he appalled them, because of the provoking of his sons and of his daughters. And he said, I will hide my face from them. I will see what their end shall be.
[27:11] For they are a very froward generation. Children in whom is no faith. They have moved me to jealousy. With that which is not God.
[27:23] They have provoked me to anger with their vanities. And I will move them to jealousy. With those which are not a people. I will provoke them to anger.
[27:34] With a foolish nation. For a fire is kindled in mine anger. And shall burn unto the lowest hell. And shall consume the earth with her increase.
[27:46] And set on fire the foundations of the mountains. I will heat mischiefs upon them. I will spend mine arrows upon them.
[27:57] They shall be burnt with hunger. And devoured with burning heat. And with bitter destruction. I will also send the teeth of beasts upon them.
[28:09] With the poison of serpents of the dust. The sword without. And terror within. Shall destroy both the young man and the virgin.
[28:21] The circling also with the man of grey hair. I said I would scatter them into corners. I would make the remembrance of them to cease. From among men.
[28:33] Were it not that I feared the wrath of the enemy. Lest their adversaries should behave themselves strangely. Unless they should say. Our hand is high. And the Lord hath not done all this.
[28:47] For they are a nation void of counsel. Neither is there any understanding in them. Oh that they were wise. That they understood this.
[29:00] That they would consider their latter end. How should one chase a thousand and two put ten thousand to flight. Except the rock hath sold them.
[29:13] And the Lord hath shut them up. For their rock is not as our rock. Even our enemies themselves being judges.
[29:24] For their vine is of the vine of Sodom. And of the great fields of Gomorrah. Their grapes are grapes of gall. Their clusters are bitter.
[29:36] Their wine is the poison of dragons. And the cruel venom of asps. And so on down. May the Lord add his blessing.
[29:49] Through this reading of his word. And through his name. Be the praise. We are going to sing now some verses. From Psalm 31.
[30:00] At verse 19. Down to verse 24. 19 to the end of the psalm. Psalm 31.
[30:11] How great's the goodness thou for them that fear thee keepst in store. And rod'st for them that trust in thee the sons of men before.
[30:22] In secret of thy presence. Thou shalt hide them from man's pride. From strife of tongues thou closely shalt as in attempt them hide.
[30:33] All praise and thanks be to the Lord. For he hath magnified his wondrous love to me. Within a city fortified.
[30:45] And so on. We'll sing to the end of the psalm. Psalm 31 from verse 19 to the end. And how great's the goodness thou for them that fear thee keepst in store.
[30:59] How great's the goodness thou for them that fear thee keepst in store. That fear thee keepst in store.
[31:17] And rod'st for them that trust in thee the sons of men before.
[31:32] In secret of thy presence. The Lord shall hide them from man's pride.
[31:51] From strife of tongues thou blood flee shalt as in a tent.
[32:06] Amen. Amen. All praise and thanks be to the Lord.
[32:18] For he hath magnified. His wondrous love.
[32:31] His love. Heal me within. A city fortified.
[32:44] Heal me within. The twenty niet. For heem. Heal me byございます.
[32:57] my taste hath said my voice yet e'er the wind to thee with Christ my mown I made all of the Lord all ye they say because the Lord doth guard the faithful and he preciously produced through our church we Lord be of good courage and peace strength and to you
[34:09] I shall send all ye whose hope and confidence death on the Lord keep in for a short time turn to the passage that we read together the Old Testament scriptures the book of Deuteronomy chapter 32 and we can read again verse 9 for the Lord's portion is his people Jacob is the lot of his inheritance the Lord's portion is his people some of your
[35:13] Bibles will have a comment at the beginning of chapter 32 it describes the chapter as a son or the son of Moses quite a number of Bibles have that title given to it the son of Moses and it's for that reason considered to be very much akin to one of the Psalms and bearing that in mind some look at the chapter which is quite a long chapter and they make various suggestions as to what kind of song this is what kind of psalm is it some call it a hymn of praise others see the two main elements synod one calling for
[36:21] God's people to enter into a pact of adoration with their God summoning or bringing to mind the reasons that they have for magnifying the name of God as he appears to them in his benevolence other side of that which would suggest that it is rather more weighted towards warnings for God's people it certainly identifies for us the way people look at the psalm or the song of Moses and see in it the various main elements one clever commentator calls this a covenant lawsuit as if
[37:21] God is the lawyer as it were and he is listing the charges that are to be brought against his people but the reality is that we know far more than speculation we're told from the previous chapter what the song of Moses is all about because if you go back to the previous chapter you read there the following verse 16 and the Lord said unto Moses behold thou shalt sleep with thy father and this people will rise up and go a hearing after the gods of the strangers of the land whither they go to be among them and will forsake me and break my covenant which
[38:22] I have made with them then my anger shall be kindled against them in that day and I will forsake them and I will hide my face from them and they shall be devoured and many evils and troubles shall befall them so that they will say in that day are not these evils come upon us because our God is not among us and I will surely hide my face in that day for all the evils which they shall have wrought in that they are turned unto other gods now he says therefore write ye this song for you and teach it to the children of Israel put it in their mouths that this song may be a witness for me against the children of Israel so there you see no need for any speculation we are told the composer of the song is not
[39:33] Moses but God and he has given the words of the song for Moses to bring before the people so that they know what God has to say to them and what God has to say about them well that's the background I suppose to these words and these words they build up to a very dark and pessimistic future but the chapter begins and it begins very positively I suppose we could say that because we need to consider how the song begins before we appreciate the significance of what God has to say about himself in his relationship with the people and we want to begin with a backdrop of glaring contrasts the contrast that is made between the way
[40:52] God is to his own people and the way God's people behave despite what God is to them and then secondly we have the words of verse nine which really speak to us about this unique relationship that exists between God and his people I think we're used enough to reading and hearing about God's people
[42:33] God has in God has in his people he is expressing that interest in them by reminding them that he is speaking to them give ear o ye heavens and I will speak and hear o earth the words of my mouth he is speaking to them and later on in this chapter you find the importance of that that God's voice is heard and I don't think there's anything as uncomfortable for anyone whose ear is attuned to the voice of God for them to be confronted by the silence of God for them to be attuned to the voice of God in his word or as they pray there is a great great feeling of joy in the heart of the believer when they know that
[43:45] God is through his word speaking to them but when that stops when there is a silence there is nothing as uncomfortable for God's people as that although we have to say that it can become the status quo it can become what we're more used to than what we're not because it's not something we have of right we can we can quite easily live our lives content in that silence and we get used to it and we're not moved by it but that's not the way it should be and that's not the way it could be and here God is telling them that he is going to speak and he is going to speak in a way that they know that it is him that is speaking and they are to learn from him from what he has to say you can understand the importance of what he has to say look at verse 2 my doctrine he says shall drop as the rain my speech shall distill as the dew as the small rain upon the tender herb and as the showers upon the grass the significance of that is not easily missed because the word of God to his people is what comes to them to refresh to encourage sometimes to correct and to redirect sometimes to bring light when they're in darkness but he uses the illustration from nature to remind us of the refreshing potential that God's word has when he speaks and we hear him speak then this is the effect his word refreshes it nourishes it heals it encourages and it brings new life also and how many of us need that re reinvigorating to be refreshed to be encouraged because we live in a world world that is bitterly hostile to God to his people to any evidence that the people of
[46:38] God may have an interest in his word that word is suppressed that word is diminished that word is treated as if it is of no merit and yet and yet what we find what we find from here is that God means his people to hear and he expects the effect of it to be upon their lives and is that not something that we take pleasure in when we experience the word of God working in our lives in this way and then in verse three we see the result of that how we see growth and development and that itself stimulates thankfulness and praise in the lives of God's people they want when they recognise
[47:41] God to magnify the name of God when they sense the presence of God and the wholehearted experience of interaction with God's word as it is in their lives it cannot bring but bring them to their knees in order to praise and to thank the God who speaks through his word you know it's always a concern of a preacher of the word to preach the word and to preach the word as the word should be preached to preach it in season to preach it without fear or favour and to ensure that all that needs to be said is said and that no one is spared whatever it means but it is always the delight of the preacher who brings the word to see the word bearing fruit in the lives of those who are under it and if you think the preacher of the word is pleased to see the word bear fruit
[48:57] I'm not just thinking of conversions I'm thinking just as much as to see growth in grace and to see spiritual development but if a preacher is pleased to see that well you can believe that God more so because it is his word that brings the increase it is his word that nourishes and enhances the experience and there should be a response of thanksgiving and thankfulness on their part I came across this in my reading this week a Puritan writer by the name of Thomas Case and he was talking about the way God at times has to discipline his people and at times he has to bring the word to bear upon our hearts and our minds was to bring us back to himself but one thing he said that took my attention was this by justice meant he said God teaches us when and how to prize our outward mercies and comfort more and then he says do it upon them less and yet yet less ensnared by them you you think that's contradictory but no what he means by it is that the mercies themselves are not an end in themselves
[51:07] God supplies them but they are supplied by God to take us to himself to appreciate not just the mercies but the God who supplies them and this is what he says and I want you to remember this while men fill themselves with the mercies of God they can neglect the God of their mercies you think about that while they fill themselves with the mercies of God they neglect the God of their mercies now that's something that we need to remember because here in the song of Moses what we see is I will publish the name of the Lord ascribe ye greatness unto our God you know we can stop at the mercies we can stop at the things that we take delight in the goodness of God and yet the God who supplies the goodness is overlooked and we don't come to him without thanksgiving as we ought well the song of
[52:37] Moses it starts well does it not it's full of encouragement full of of reason to to be aware of God's goodness he is the rock his work is perfect for all his ways are judgment a God of truth and without iniquity just and right as he all of these things are of greatest import to the child of God as he appreciates what God does for us in our lives every day every moment every time we open our eyes we open them on mercy's ground and we should and could acknowledge the faithfulness of God to us and yet this is contrasted with something that is completely different despite the fact that God is all that he is despite the fact that he provides all that he does what we are met with is those who have have feasted on the good things of God and yet they have abandoned that God they have corrupted themselves their spot is not the spot of his children they are perverse and crooked generation and so is so on when we find this
[54:23] God who is spoken of here presented in such clear terms and then when you place alongside that the response to his goodness it becomes glaringly obvious surely how how at odds it is with the response that should be there if you summarise what is presented to us there a people who are corrupt and crooked who fail to consider what God is doing who fail to remember what God is providing and their actions testify to that and here the charge is levied against a people who bear God's name and Moses is taught by God you know
[55:24] Moses you're here and now and you've experienced look back on your life and you're able to speak about all these things that you received from God's hand all the days of your life you speak of them you ask your parents to speak of them your elders to speak of them the history books to speak of them and they can and yet before long shortly after your death this God will be forgotten other gods will be embraced and Israel although they were God's children did not behave as if they were his children and that's the picture that we have a glaring picture of two polar opposites God's goodness
[56:25] God's covenant faithfulness God's gracious provision spiritual and temporal and yet the people fairly soon forget the source of all these benefits the story doesn't end there of course it's not the end of the story by any means but even though these contrasts are made what you read here is a statement of fact the Lord's portion is his people the Lord's portion is his people and you have to understand that when he says that he's not saying this portion is a chosen portion and I've taken the bad out of foot like you took a basket of grapes and you picked at it and tossed out the ones that were soiled and bruised and didn't look so nice
[57:45] God's people are his portion and his portion alone and that statement comes on the heel of a description of his contrast that there is amongst those who should know and who behave as if they don't the sovereignty of God speaks to us as we saw in the morning of a kingly rule that governs the whole earth and every generation that occupies the sphere of time whose power is in operation within the sphere of his influence which covers all time and every race and every generation just think of Psalm 72 when we often sing it it speaks to us of the enduring name that he possesses it speaks of a kingly influence that reaches beyond normal boundaries it speaks of the salvation that he has decreed that will reach and this if you read through this song of
[59:08] Moses you know we read these words that that God will ultimately cause consternation on the part of his people when he sees and reach out to others that were not officially his people when the gospel reaches out to those who were not of the race of the Jews and this is what he will bring about in due time but God as sovereign is able to bring that to pass but I want to think just briefly before we finish on some of the things that God could say about his portion and his portion alone what God means us to understand that his portion are beneficiaries of first and foremost the fact that he is their
[60:27] God is all important they belong to him in a way that others do not you can argue and it's perfectly permissible for you to think of this world as being God's there is nothing in it that he does not own that he does not possess it is his the cattle on a thousand hills that is his the whole of creation he is responsible for it he sustains it he maintains it and ultimately he will bring it to its end but particularly within this world his interest lies with his people a people that he has determined to make his own they belong to him in a way that others do not remember how the apostle
[61:29] Peter speaks about the salvation wrought by the hand of Christ and he speaks of many things I suppose that you could link in with this passage you are a chosen generation a royal priesthood a holy nation a peculiar people that you should show forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvelous light which in time past were not a people but are now the people of God which had not obtained mercy but now have obtained mercy moko those these people are redeemed people and he has paid the price for their redemption the price is without measure very often we see or we read about auctions that are the preserve of the wealthy and they buy priceless pieces of art or jewellery or property and they bid vast sums and they spend vast sums and they say at the end of it all this was priceless but that is not strictly true there is a price, there is a ceiling there is a value but it will reach the top end if you like but the redemption of the soul of the individual is something without price who can place the value or the price on a soul who can purchase it well God did in the person of Jesus Christ and it is beyond the grasp of any mortal being to do that but God did it through Christ Jesus when we read in the Psalms as we often do of the work of salvation that God was responsible for think of Psalm 40 where the Psalmist there describes the redemption that is experienced by some he took me from a fearful pit from the mighty clay on a rocky set my feet establishing my way he took this is God's doing no hand could reach out to bring any sinner out of the the morass in which sin had placed them but God did through Christ Jesus because they were his they belonged to him they were rightfully his to do that work for them we know that
[65:11] Christ speaks of his death on the cross as a conquering of death which is what it was he was able to to gain the victory over the enemy of our soul the roaring lion who goes about seeking whom he may devour Christ alone was able to drive that foe away and death is defeated by his hand he through the gospel has brought life and immortality to light this is God's doing and he is doing it because he has a portion it belongs to him and there is nothing too much for him that he has not done these words also teach us to remember the special place that God's people have in the affections of God you notice how the chapter goes on it speaks of the protective nature of
[66:20] God's love for his people he looks after them like the apple of his eye these are wonderful words words that remind us of the affection that he has for them he led him about he instructed him he kept him as the apple of his eye an affection and a care that meant that whatever harm would befall them it would not be anything other than a temporary experience recovery was in his hand to execute and then the description that we have of his fatherly care I think that image that we have in verse 11 where we see an eagle stood in the nest that has its young resting in that and I think if I understand that image at all it tells us of the way
[67:32] God at times has to shake our nests we may be resting we may be at ease there and yet like the mother eagle or father eagle comes along to teach them to fly to take flight he hovers above them and the nest is stirred and the chicklets are forced to abandon their place and then they would plummet to the ground because the nest is built up on the heights but rather than fall to their death the parent eagle is ready to spread its wings under them if they are not fit to fly at that point they will fall but they will not perish such as the care that is shown god sometimes has to deal with his people like that he has to teach them to do many things that they are willing to do they have to learn sometimes the hard way that there is much in their life that they should be doing that they are not the easy route the easy path is open to us all and that's what we would opt for at all times but god is saying to his people you are mine but you need to show that you are mine and i will show through you that you are mine and others will learn what kind of god i am the psalm that we are going to finish with psalm 84 describes to us that protective love that god has for his people many more can be said many more illustrations can be found but i think that in the portion of this word that teaches us that the people of god are his portion how would we ask how would we answer a question if asked are you the portion of the lord are you the portion of the lord well there's only one answer to that is the lord your portion no if you look at that psalm that we that we sing that describes i suppose goes back to the experience of the children of israel when god apportioned to them their own tract of land to possess and to live in and to enjoy there's a great blessing attached to to doing that but the psalmist says god is of my inheritance and curb the portion the lord that fallen is to me thou dost maintain alone god is your portion and that is how you can understand i think i think it's spurgeon that that speaks of this passage and he says it's as if you're standing in front of a mirror and there's the two two parts to it the person standing in front of the mirror and the person reflected in the mirror and god is determined to to save his people and he does so by working the work of redemption in them
[71:32] because they are his people and they are his people to bear his image and as they bear his image as he says to them you are my portion the image that stands in front of it says you are my portion as if the mirror image is echoing the words of the lord to his own people god is saying to the child of god you are mine the child of god is saying to god you are mine and that is a remarkable remarkable thought we pray that god would bless it to us let us pray oh lord oh god we give thanks that your word is a word that teaches us many things it teaches us about your goodness and your grace and your mercy and your forbearance and your commitment to covenant it speaks to us also of your own people's neglect your own people's forgetfulness your own people's waywardness and all of these things have brought to our attention so that we will discover them early before they are revealed too late to do anything about them help us to appreciate the privilege that we have to hear your word and to listen to your voice in it cleanse from sin we pray in Jesus name
[73:17] Amen we're singing from Psalm 84 and verse 8 to the end Psalm 84 from verse 8 Lord God of hosts my prayer hear O Jacob's God give ear see God O shield look on the face of thine anointed dear for in thy courts one day excels a thousand rather in my God's house will I keep a door than dwell in tents of sin for God the Lord is a sun and shield he'll grace and glory give and will withhold no good from them that are brightly to live O thou that art the Lord of hosts that man is truly blessed who by assured confidence on thee alone doth rest Lord God of hosts my prayer hear Lord God of hosts my prayer hear
[74:23] Lord Jacob God give me seek God her shield look on the face of thine anointed dear alegrica of thine Espero dio nor can sound o o années later earth dame and anointed dear For in thy courts one day excelled a thousand brothers in my God's house will I keep adored and dwell in tents of sin.
[75:44] And dwell in tents of sin. And dwell in tents of sin.
[75:58] My God's house will I keep adored and dwell in tents of sin.
[76:13] For God the Lord does sound and shield, till grace and glory give.
[76:28] And dwell with all no good from them that are brightly to live.
[76:42] That are brightly to live.
[76:56] And dwell with all no good from them that are brightly to live.
[77:11] O thou that art the Lord of all, that man is truly blessed.
[77:26] Who by your sure confidence on thee are long as rest.
[77:41] On thee are long as rest. On thee are long as rest.
[77:55] Who by your sure confidence on thee are long as rest.
[78:10] Amen. Now may grace, mercy and peace be God the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit rest and abide with you all now and always. Amen.
[78:21] Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Look at that. Amen.
[78:42] Thank you. Amen.